Lakers GM Rob Pelinka Says 'We Want to Try Our Hardest' to Keep Core amid FA Rumors
The Los Angeles Lakers want to run it back in 2023-24 with as much of the roster that finished strongly in 2022-23, per comments made by Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka on Tuesday.
ESPN's Dave McMenamin relayed the quotes.
"We want to try our hardest to keep this core of guys together and also improve around the edges and on the margins to not only get back to where we were last year but hopefully take the next step and get into the NBA Finals," Pelinka said during an introductory press conference for the team's 2023 draft picks (Indiana guard Jalen Hood-Schifino and Pepperdine forward Maxwell Lewis).
The Lakers retooled their roster midseason, notably adding D'Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley while moving Austin Reaves into a more featured role.
L.A. overcame a 2-10 start and finished 18-8 to go 43-39 on the season before rolling past the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors into the Western Conference Finals, where they fell to the eventual NBA champion Denver Nuggets.
Still, the refurbished roster came up big at crucial points during the playoffs, most notably on the defensive end against the Warriors in their second-round victory.
There's much room for optimism after the season, and Pelinka strongly believes in what the team as constructed can accomplish.
"I think we believe in the proof of concept of this group, and we saw defensively what we were able to do to finish the season out, and I think defense and rebounding wins championships ... We want to lean into that," Pelinka said.
"I think if there's ways we can improve the roster, of course we're going to do that. I think probably less focus of, 'Hey, what is Team X or Team Y doing?' And more focus on, 'How can we optimize us?'"
But as of now, only four of the seven players who started for the Lakers at some point during the playoffs are under contract for next year.
Hachimura and Reaves will be restricted free agents after the Lakers extended qualifying offers to both of them. L.A. can match offers made to them by opposing teams.
Russell is set to be an unrestricted free agent, and the same goes for fellow guard Dennis Schröder.
However, the Lakers' top two stars, LeBron James and Anthony Davis, are both under contract for next year. Vanderbilt, who started 24 of 26 regular-season games for L.A., is as well.
But if Pelinka is able to retain most of the core, then the Lakers should be in very good shape. Bringing Reaves and Hachimura back into the mix at minimum could go a long way toward L.A. maintaining that positive momentum and making another deep playoff run.
